, 1887-07-20
THE DIFFUSION PROCESS.

On Monday afternoon, Mr.. QulnJln Gogg
delivered atthe Exchange Rooms, his promised
lecture on Diffusion, to which we referred last
week. There was a numerous attendance OF
proprietors, attorneys and managers of es-
tates; most of the leading mercantile houses
in Georgetown also were represented. Mr..
P. Fl. Mind, M. A., President of the Plan
ters' Association presided, and briefly intro
duced the lecturer, who on rising was warmly
welcomed.
Mr.. Quintin Hogg: I am glad Mr.. Mind
has described the subject matter of my lee
ture In the terms he has just made use OF, as
I shall deal rather with the twenty years ex-
perience Mr.. Minchin has gained at Aska
than with the rather crude attempt which we
nave as yet been able to make at N0npGrett.
I should like also to make it clear that [ do
not stand here as an advocate of diffusion,
but my desire is mainly to let others know
the facts and data which I have gathered in
connection with the subject, which SO far as
[ know could not have been obtained save
through the instrumentality of Mr.. Minchln,
or his chief manager, Mr.. Kollmann, at Aska.
NY first introduction to Mr.. Minchin was in
1877, shortly after | had tried the system
known as Tooth's, which [ believe to have
been one of the very best ever introduced into
this colony. Mr.. Minchin called on me IN
London and asked me for the figures which L
had got together IN connection with Tooths
process. Those | gave to him, and we after
wards had a conversation on diffusion. 1t
then appeared to me, on comparing notes
with him, that he was doing, from q money
point of view, very little if at all better than
/ was. This put diffusion out of my head for
some years nor did | again seriously think
of it until my last visit to the colony in 1886,
when Mr.. Schultz, the representative of the
Sangerhausen firm, called upon me and en-
deayoured to persuade me to order a plant.
As you know, the state of affairs last year
was not such as to induce proprietors tos go
in for extensive speculative trials. Mr..
Schultz however was SO earnest in the matter,
and offered to back his opinion to such an
extent, that [ at last entered into serious ne
gotiation with him. Finally, the terms set
tied between us We're somewhat as follows:
He undertook on the part of his firm to fur
nish me. landed in Demerara, with a com
plete diffusion plant at his own risk, which
plant he guaranteed should be capable of
dealing with four hundred tons of canes in
twenty-four hours; also that the diffusion
juice should not be less pure than that which
came from the mill, and that the total extra
dilution should not exceed l22 percent. On
my return to England | found that this last
point was not quite clear. By % per cent.
/ had understood that not more than twenty
two gallons of water were to be added to eve
~ one hundred gallons of juice, whereas my,
German friend apparently had understood
something quite different. Finally, however,
the Bangerhausen firm defined their idea of
20 per cent. by stating that it represented a
dilution. of 90 Beaum6; that is to say, if our
mill juice is at 80 the diffusion juice from
their battery should not be less than TO.
Subject to this, they undertook to give
me within q very small decimal point the
whole of the sugar contained in the cane.
Furthermore, | was to be the sole arbiter
as to whether the terms had or had not
been fulfilled. Having this responsibility
laid upon me, | made up my mind to pro-
coed to the one place in the world where I
could really study diffusion as applied to
sugar cane. So, I booked my passage for
India and found my way to Aska, making
use of the cordial invitation which Mr..
Minchin had given me nearly ten years before.
Aska is situated In the extreme north of the
Madras Presidency, about thirty-two miles
from the sea, and about the same distance
from the Chilka Lake, the one great lake of
India. Tn place is not easy to arrive at, as
it can only be reached by slow coasting steam
ers, which entirely subordinate the convent
ence OF passengers to the exigencies of freight
After q weeks c~oasting, however, we arrived
OF Gopalpur, and proceeded thence thirty-two
miles in a bullock cart to Aska. The works